That vintage smell

There’s an old adage in the sales world that you have to ‘smell what sells’ to make money. The insinuation is obvious – figure out what people want and stock up on that, whatever it is. That in mind, Bell & Ross’s persistent BR 01 restock has been befuddling.

Before I explain why, let me first say I think the BR 01 is an iconic watch. It’s immediately recognizable from afar, and more importantly, it defines the era into which it was born, namely the world and watch economic boom years of the mid-Noughties.

In those now studiously forgotten days, watch brands seemed intent on making watches you could hang on a wall when your wrist got tired of lugging them around (even sensible brands were at it – remember Omega’s 49mm Railmaster? Sends a shudder…).

But post-economic apocalypse, bigness has been belittled. It’s not cool to wear a seismic timepiece any more – 39mm is back.  But some brands have clung onto bigness and claimed it as a fundamental part of their brand DNA (forgive the marketese) – Panerai, Breitling, U-Boat and so on . Great if your target customers are rappers or troubled by myopia, but curious if you want to command a place in the mainstream. We’ve moved on.

As if to confirm that, Bell & Ross admitted to me recently that the smaller, 42mm BR 03 is a better seller than its big brother.

But if, like me, you’re a fan of the brand, there’s good news. This year Bell & Ross released three new BR 01s, each 46mm in diameter, each square-cased and each a pastiche of a flight instrument that makes telling the time something of a challenge. The good news is that alongside these came a box designed to carry six watches – the three new pieces and the three launched last year. Fingers crossed, this is a sign that particular creative idea has run its course.


Better news still came in the form of the brand’s extended Vintage collection. I’ve said for some time that this is where Bell & Ross is strongest and should be heading. Smaller, more classic, but still clearly belonging to the same instrument-inspired school of legible watch design the brand adheres to so well, these pieces hold the key to its future.

Let’s start with the 41mm Vintage BR 123 and BR 126 Sport Heritage models, which kick on from last year’s excellent Sport line and are, as I said on WorldTempus immediately after Baselworld, among the best watches I’ve seen this year and possibly the best Bell & Ross have ever made.


I like the vintage khaki lume, the clean dial, the sunken bezel and the domed sapphire crystal on these watches. The balance is damned near perfect – even the date shipped down to between 4 and 5 o’clock works. As well as the standard issue pieces, there’s a limited edition pair made in partnership with Dassault for the 50th anniversary of the Falcon private jet. Given Bell & Ross are almost 30 years younger than the Falcon, these are straight out of a marketing manual, but when the watches are this good, frankly, who cares?


The only thing I don’t like about the standard models are their rubber straps, which feel like the sort of nasty, non-biodegradable plastic cheap suitcases used to be made of. Switch that out for a dark brown leather strap (as per the Falcon models) and you have a winner on your hands. And, with prices starting at £1,950/$3,100 for the BR 123 and £2,850/$4,500 for the BR 126, these are some of the best watches on the market in the price bracket.

All four watches are on pre-order at the moment and scheduled for release in the autumn, as is the 43mm BR 126 Flyback, an automatic flyback chronograph limited to 500 pieces that’s cased in black PVD-coated steel and comes with a much higher quality canvas strap in shocking-orange. Shocking, as in it’s so bright it could burn your retinas in some lights, rather than it’s awful. In fact, as a statement watch, it’s got just the right amount of wacky Frenchness about it (Bell & Ross HQ is in Paris – with a production facility in La Chaux de Fonds).

And so it goes on – the new PW1 pocket watches are full of the right kind of character, and the latest round of WW1 wristwatches are real eye-catchers, not least the super-classy pink gold regulator.



The only hang-up I have about the new Vintage collection is the WW2 Tourbillon, a 49mm pseudo-Steampunk haute horlogerie piece that looks like it was designed by an angry man in a darkened room. On top of that, Bell & Ross isn’t a tourbillon brand – how many pilots, military men or adventurers want/need such a thing?

But that aside, there are plenty of signs Bell & Ross are coming back to form. The smells are good. Very good.